Former Sports Illustrated model turned influencer, Haley “Baylee” Kalil, is in hot water after speaking about her ex-husband during a live stream.
The 33-year-old influencer recently filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against her by her ex-husband, former NFL offensive lineman Matt Kalil, who accused her of “invasive commentary” during a live stream on Twitch in November 2025.
Matt and Haley met and got married in 2015, prior to her gaining national attention for her photographs in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
Here is a look back at Haley’s professional career leading up to her most recent legal battle with her ex-husband.
Haley began her journey with modeling while attending St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where she was studying medical biology.
While in school, she entered the Miss Minnesota USA pageant in 2014 and placed as runner-up. She then began working on local and commercial modeling while in school.
She continued to work as a model and in 2017 entered the Sports Illustrated Swim Search, ultimately winning a spot in the magazine and gaining national attention. The following year, she was named Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie of the Year and continued modeling with the company through 2019.
“Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has truly, I mean truly, changed my life,” Kalil told Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in December 2024. “I went from being somebody that had no modeling experience, I had never had a modeling agency, I was turned down by every modeling agency I ever contacted … And so, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has truly opened up so many doors for me. It’s all about embracing beauty in every different shape, size, color, and it’s that diversity that makes Sports Illustrated Swimsuit so beautiful.”
Haley began posting on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic, explaining on a recent episode of the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast that initially “my entire following I think was like 99% dudes,” because she was posting sexy content because she thought that was what she “was supposed to post as a model.”
Things changed for her after she appeared in another influencer, Caleb Simpson’s apartment tour series. Her apartment tour went viral, with Haley saying on the podcast, “I hit a million like right after. I thought pretty fast.”
“The thing that surprised me was I was used to a world where like it was men in my comment section,” she explained. “It was men talking about my body, talking about my face, oversexualizing me pretty much, which, like I put myself in that position. I don’t judge them for that. But this was women in the comment section of Caleb’s video, and it was women being like, ‘Yo, I vibe with her.'”
After her apartment tour went viral, she realized she could step away from what she learned in her modeling career about “how men are supposed to perceive me” and just be herself, since “women are vibing with me,” which she said was “a really, really, really good feeling.”
Her career as an influencer has been extremely successful, as she has amassed over 16 million followers, with her videos consistently reaching over two million views. She has also been invited to interview celebrities on the red carpet for her own social media and outlets such as E! News and Variety, at events like the Golden Globes, Grammys and Oscars.
Most recently she was spotted at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards.
Haley’s career as an influencer has not come without its fair share of controversy.
The influencer faced backlash in May 2024 when she posted a video of herself at the Met Gala dressed in an 18th century style dress and headpiece, syncing her lips to audio of Kirsten Dunst saying “Let them eat cake” in a scene from the 2006 movie “Marie Antoinette.”
Many found the now-deleted video to be tone-deaf, as she posted it as pro-Palestinian protesters were standing outside the Met Gala. One commenter wrote, “The sound choice that you’re using is wild. We are truly living in a dystopian world,” while another told her to “read the room.”
Haley posted an eight-minute apology video on TikTok following the backlash, explaining she wasn’t even invited to the Met Gala and was just there interviewing attendees for E!’s coverage. She also said she was “sorry that I chose a sound that you guys could ever possibly feel was malicious in nature,” and that she wouldn’t have chosen it if she knew people would be offended.
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“I never would have chosen a sound on purpose to highlight wealth disparity or elitism. I never even thought it would be taken in that way, because I wasn’t elite enough to even be invited to the Met Gala because I’m not elite. I’m a normal person,” she said. “My dumb self just used an audio that I thought was viral and trending and that people recognized from the ‘Marie Antoinette’ 2006 movie. I didn’t think that much into it, and for that I am so sorry. I did not do my due diligence.”
During a recent appearance on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast, Haley discussed the early days of her career and how she never thought she would have a career in entertainment.
Growing up in Minnesota, Haley explained she always “idolized” fashion and YouTube and the entertainment industry, but “just didn’t think I would ever have access to it,” adding her parents never would have allowed her to have a YouTube account before she turned 18.
“But that was always my dream, like I loved performing, and so I went to school for biomedical engineering psych with a minor in chem, so I was planning on medical school,” she told the podcast host. “No one in my family was in entertainment. No one even remotely like lives anywhere besides Minnesota… so like we’re… it feels so unattainable.”
She went on to say that the feeling of it being unattainable is probably “one of the reasons why” the last few years of her life have felt “like a blur,” because she is “just amazing I’m even doing this.”
Haley previously told Fox News Digital in an August 2020 interview that seeing her Sports Illustrated photos for the first time “was really a magical moment for me” because she felt like “Every inch of my body is celebrated.”
“But when I was growing up, I was always kind of a nerd. I was always teased for what I looked like. Whenever I would tell anyone I wanted to be a model, I was laughed out of a room. So this has been a long time coming for me. And as women, it’s really hard to see ourselves the way other people might see us.”
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Haley’s ex-husband Matt filed a lawsuit against her on Jan. 6 accusing her of providing “invasive commentary” on their marriage during a Twitch live stream in November 2025.
During the live stream, Haley spoke about the couple’s sex life, telling the viewers the size of his penis was “the biggest factor” in their divorce. In the complaint, Matt alleged that Haley’s words “implied that the size of Plaintiff’s genitalia was a primary factor in the parties’ divorce and claimed that sexual intercourse with Plaintiff would leave her ‘in tears.'”
In response to her ex’s complaint, Haley filed a motion to dismiss his lawsuit on Jan. 23, with her attorney, Matthew Bialick, telling People they filed the motion “because Minnesota has a longstanding commitment to free speech, which is important now more than ever.”
“Allowing a lawsuit to proceed against a woman for sharing a truthful, autobiographical account of sexual trauma would directly undermine those core values. We believe the motion will be granted,” he said.
Matt’s attorney, Ryan Saba of Rosen Saba LLP, responded to Haley’s motion to dismiss, telling People: “Haley Kalil’s motion to dismiss does not dispute the fact that she wantonly disclosed private and intimate details about Matt Kalil that resulted in widespread ridicule and unwanted attention.”
“The motion completely misses the point that a spouse does not have a right to expose private and confidential marital and sexual details for the purpose of profiting,” he continued. “We expect that the motion will be completely denied.”
